Ambassadors

My journey as a midwife

Swisse

December 12, 2018

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Daisy Pearce shares her experiences, insights and challenges faced as a practicing Midwife.

Is there anything Daisy Pearce can’t do? Daisy wears many capes from AFLW superstar, multitasking midwife and much-loved media personality. She has also recently announced that she is pregnant…with TWINS! We sat down with our Swisse Ambassador to hear all about her experiences as a midwife and how her midwifery career has shaped and changed her outlook on life.

What made you want to become midwife?

My mum had my youngest brother and sister when I was old enough to be involved and intrigued by her pregnancy, birth and the newborn period - so I was fascinated in it from a young age. As I went through high school I decided I wanted to work in health care and the idea of working with women and their families and trying to be a positive influence during one of the most special but also most vulnerable times in their lives really appealed to me. The job is more than I imagined it to be back then. It can be so rewarding, joyful, challenging, unpredictable and sad (sometimes all in the one day) but I love it and am so grateful for the experiences I’ve had so far in my career.

How long have you practiced?

I was at university for four years and have been a qualified/practicing midwife for eight years now.

Has your midwifery knowledge and skills helped with your own pregnancy journey?

Yes, I feel like it has helped in some ways. Mostly in a theoretical and practical sense; knowing how to navigate the health care system, what tests and checks should be done when and where, having some knowledge of what the normal physical changes are and how to manage them. But theoretical and intellectual understanding is one thing; the emotional and psychological experience is another and no amount of study or practice can truly prepare you for your own experience through pregnancy and I’m sure birth and motherhood. I’ve discovered that being a midwife doesn’t exclude you from the fears and anxious moments or changes to your role and identity that come with pregnancy and contemplating being a mother.

Have you experienced any challenging moments as a midwife?

Plenty! Ultimately your job is to care for and help guide women and their families through what is one of the most important and intense times in their lives and their experience lays the foundations for their whole parenting experience and the rest of their lives; it is emotionally charged and the stakes are high. I’ve noticed there is a bit of a misperception around the role of a midwife; some think our role is to help care for and cuddle babies and be an assistant to the medical team but we actually work with a lot of autonomy throughout the entire pregnancy, birth and postpartum period and have to constantly draw on our own skills and clinical judgement to ensure women and babies are safe and well informed to make decisions so that their experience is a positive one.

Pregnancy and childbirth can be an unpredictable time so amongst all the excitement and joy a new baby can bring, unfortunately sometimes things can divert from the original plan. Women can become unwell, sometimes quickly and unexpectedly, and despite improvements in our knowledge and understanding of what can put babies at risk we still lose some and sometimes without any warning or anything we could have done to prevent it. Those days are extremely challenging, for the families first and foremost but also for those of us looking after them.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love meeting people from all walks of life and cultures. It is such a privilege to play a small role in such precious moments in people’s lives. I love that I have an opportunity to impact their experience in a positive way. I always remind myself to never take that for granted.